MZ-RH10 display replacement installation manual

This manual describes the steps required to replace the burnt-out OLED display in an MZ-RH10 MiniDisc recorder with a brand new module I designed.

Required parts / tools

Disclaimers

The replacement module is a flexible PCB. If bent incorrectly, it might crack and stop working. Be careful! Do not bend the part containing the integrated circuit.

If you're not sure about some step, or if you encountered some problem that's not described in this guide, please contact me on Discord (@asivery), or via E-Mail (asivery at protonmail dot com).

If you wish to contribute anything to this guide, please message me. Thank you in advance :)

Even though I've tried my best to descibe all the steps as best as I could, I can't be held liable for any damages done to either the MZ-RH10 itself, or any other equipment used during the installation. Only proceed if you're comfortable with taking apart small electronics, and know how to solder. Otherwise, I strongly recommend seeking a local electonics proffessional, who would be willing to help with the installation.

Installation steps

0. Remove the disc and battery

To make the replacement process as simple as possible, start off by removing the disc and the gumstick battery, as well as the sidecar (if present).

1. Taking off the main chassis

To start off, open the battery compartment, and remove the battery door - gently lift the pin and slide the door off.

The plastics the MZ-RH10 is made out of have deteriorated since the device was manufactured, and therefore became brittle. It's very easy to end up with a cracked chassis. Be careful!

Then, remove the 5 screws holding the main chassis in place.

Two are hidden in the battery compartment
Two are on the side of the unit, next to the USB and barrel jack ports
One is hidden behind the disc eject button

Slide the DC IN / USB door so that it covers the DC IN part - this will make it easier to pry the case open later.

Slide two picks into the chassis:

First one below the battery connector
Second one right next to the USB connector

Very gently try to lift the device out of its case with the pick in the battery compartment. If the second pick is inserted correctly, you should be able to effortlessly lift the whole mechanism out.

Do not force anything open at this point

The second pick is inserted very close to the magnetic head ribbon. You might rip it, if you're not careful.

If you followed the steps correctly, you should end up with the chassis removed.

I highly recommend removing one of the clear pieces of plastic glued to the side of the mechanism. Unless removed, it can squish and tear the write head ribbon during reassembly.

2. Removing the lid board

After the machine is out of its chassis, it's time to remove the lid.

Start by disconnecting the lid ribbon cable - unlatch it from its connector by sliding edges of the brown part as pointed out by the arrows. This should make it possible to simply slide out the ribbon cable, without the use of any force.

Remove the lid spring - open the disc compartment, and unlatch the spring from the brass pin. Close the disc compartment afterwards.

Unscrew the lid

The screwes here are a different length. Keep track of them!

Open the disc compartment, then carefully unlatch the lid from the rest of the mechanism. It should come off without requiring any force.

When reassembling, make sure to latch these components correctly!

2. Removing the front of the lid

Remove the four screws holding the midframe to the front of the lid.

Insert a pick between the lid PCB and the front of the lid.

Do not insert it between the PCB and the midframe - you might end up cracking the PCB that way!

Slide another pick from the top, between the old OLED and the front of the lid. The screen is partially glued, and needs to be pried out.

3. Removing the dead screen

Remove the tape covering the OLED connector

Slice off the pins off of the old OLED's ribbon

Alternatively, you can desolder this ribbon. I, however, found it easier to simply slice the pins off, then clean them up afterwards.

While cutting through the old ribbon, be extra careful not to cut the traces on the PCB!

Slice the adhesive holding the old ribbon in place as well.

Afterwards, lift the ribbon up

The OLED is also adhered using a small strip of tape. Gently lift it up and out from the bottom.

Clean up the solder pads with new solder

Don't forget to add flux! It will help the solder flow.

4. Installing the new OLED module

Remove the adhesive backing from the new OLED, then carefully position it in the RH10's midframe.

Make sure the pins touching the RH10's board are straight!

Double check the alignment! Make sure absolutely everything is straight at this point. It will be very hard to remove the OLED module after soldering it.

The OLED module has only 30 pins, whereas the old panel has 31 - this is normal. The 31st pin should not be soldered.

Example of bad alignment

Example of good alignment

After you're happy with the alingment, solder the screen down

Using a fair bit of flux will help immensely

At this point, I recommend testing the newly soldered screen - connect the lid board to the main board, without putting the lid together.

Before plugging the battery in, make sure you have no shorts on the display connector. Some pins on this connector have a high (+12V) potential on them. Bridging these pins with any others will cause permanent damage to both the replacement module and the MZ-RH10 itself.

After latching the lid midframe back and gently pressing the whole disc compartment down (nothing will hold it in place without the actual lid), you should see the correct data on the screen.

If at this point, you can only see garbage data on the screen (or sometimes nothing at all), reflow all the newly soldered pins. The MZ-RH10 uses a parallel bus for communication. All pins have to be correctly attached, or else it will not work.

Once you're sure the display works correctly, clean all the flux with isopropyl alcohol, then insulate the board with kapton tape.

Finally, gently bend the part of the module that's sticking out onto itself, as marked on the photo below